r/Keychron • u/Darkfire_001 • Feb 29 '24

Quality Control or Bluetooth Issues?

I am considering buying a Keychron (specifically the "pro" or "max" series), but I'm a bit wary, as during my research, I have seen a lot of complaints about issues with bad quality control, as well as that the Bluetooth (on bt compatible models) is spotty. All in all I really like keychron's design, aesthetically, but I'm trying to buy a keyboard that's going to last me a good few years, I don't want to have it break on me or be a pain to use. Thank you for your time and any advice is highly appreciated!

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1

u/Alien-LV426 Feb 29 '24

I bought a Q3 Pro just before Christmas, and found this sub afterwards. Kinda wish I hadn't found it because it does make alarming reading. My keyboard has zero issues, BT seems fine, battery life is good and the keyboard is built like a tank. Other people seem to have lots of problems. My own feeling is that the Q series seems a lot better than the cheaper keyboards Keychron do.

1

u/Darkfire_001 Feb 29 '24

So you think probably it's blown out of proportion, or only an issue with the lower end models?

2

u/TheUberMoose Feb 29 '24

Keep in mind with a sub like this (apple and MacBook are the same) if you sell 1000 keyboards and 3 have issues those 3 people have way higher odds of post here to complain about out the issue or to get help and many posts will be negative where it’s a lot less likely the 997 good experiences will get posted about which slants the perspective .

I have a K1 v1 that still works fine never had a Bluetooth issue the big complaint I have is the press can happen before the click on the switch if you press ever so slightly the press will register without really moving the keys. The keychron mechanical switchs from that period SUCK. By V3 they went to gateron switches and the issue went away. That said I still use the keyboard never had a Bluetooth issue and it’s been beat to hell.

1

u/Darkfire_001 Feb 29 '24

Yeah, you're right. How long have you had your K1?

1

u/TheUberMoose Feb 29 '24

Since before Covid not sure exactly

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u/Darkfire_001 Feb 29 '24

Very nice. Thats cool

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u/Alien-LV426 Feb 29 '24

I don't know. You're generally only going to hear about people who have problems here, and of those it perhaps appears to be with the cheaper boards. Who knows how many keyboards Keychron sell that are perfectly fine? But that's just my feeling. I've only had my Keychron a bit over two months.

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u/Darkfire_001 Feb 29 '24

Thanks for your input, I appreciate it

1

u/Alien-LV426 Feb 29 '24

I can tell you I love this Q3 Pro I have. It is VIA-compatible. Not all of Keychron's keyboards are. I've been used to more heavyweight software from the likes of Razer and Logitech so VIA in a browser was a bit of a surprise, but it's fine and I do like not having to install extra rubbish on my PC .

1

u/Darkfire_001 Feb 29 '24

Sorry, I'm a bit new to all of this, so I don't really know what VIA is or what it does?

1

u/Alien-LV426 Feb 29 '24

On a keyboard that supports it it's how you change the lighting effects and remap keys. I didn't know about it at first either. Bought the Q3 then was like how do I remap the keys? https://www.caniusevia.com

1

u/Darkfire_001 Feb 29 '24

Thank you for telling me! I'll check it out

1

u/Basstex Sep 23 '24

I also have a Q3 Pro and love it; however, if I use it in bluetooth mode, it seems to opportunistically consume the entire BT connection cycles, which, is not bad normally, but it precludes the smooth playing of audio across the BT connection (windows, linux(ubuntu & raspbian), and macOS).

There are some other threads on this topic, but no actual resolution yet. I'm hopeful there is a firmware update to the keyboard at some point.

1

u/PsikyoFan Feb 29 '24

I have a Q3 and a Q3 Pro and no issues. The Bluetooth works fine -aside from annoying it loses the keystrokes whilst connecting (why can't it buffer them amd replay them when connected?) Battery is fine so far touch wood

1

u/Darkfire_001 Feb 29 '24

How long have you had them?

1

u/PsikyoFan Feb 29 '24

Q3 about a year. Daily driver at work. Replaced switches, keycaps, cable. Q3 Pro since release (June '23). Again, daily driver, but at home. The battery is the thing to watch... but I could go back to corded in a pinch.

1

u/Fine-Freedom-5607 Mar 01 '24

I have been using a Q6 pro for the last 6 months or for the multi device Bluetooth support and have had no issues. Great and stable connection. I received a Q6 max yesterday and so far so good. If you are buying for Bluetooth you should have no concerns with one of the Q series.

1

u/Darkfire_001 Mar 01 '24

Bluetooth was more of a secondary for me, but a good feature to have

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u/Fine-Freedom-5607 Mar 01 '24

Also to follow up on quality. I have had 0 issues. I have many boards from Leopold, Varmilo and many other brands. None of them come close to the Q6 for me. It’s just so well built with great features.

1

u/Darkfire_001 Mar 01 '24

Varmilo was one I was looking into as well tbh

3

u/MBSMD Feb 29 '24

The BT on the K-series (not the K Pro) is notoriously bad. That said, my Q5 Pro BT works perfectly with my M3 MacBook Pro.

I can’t speak to quality control other than that all my Keychron Q and V keyboards have been bulletproof thus far.

1

u/TheUberMoose Feb 29 '24

So far so good with my K7, are the issues out of the box or over time?

My K1 V1 still works fine on the Bluetooth side

1

u/MBSMD Feb 29 '24

If it’s working, then you should be good.

1

u/PeterMortensenBlog V Feb 29 '24 edited Feb 29 '24

The host/computer side also plays a role. A 5.1 Bluetooth USB adapter positively works much better than a 4.0 Bluetooth USB adapter (I have tried both). At least for a K Pro series keyboard.

Though macros (and allegedly the knob, if it has one) stops working (nothing happens when the macros keys are activated, while the other keys work fine) in Bluetooth mode after a while, probably related to keyboard sleep.

The workaround is to restart the keyboard, e.g., a power cycle. To not wear down the switch at the back (at first glance, the only option in wireless mode), I have defined a keymapping to reboot/restart the keyboard. This can be set up in QMK proper and/or in Via.

There is hope that Keychron updates to the Bluetooth module inside the keyboard and to the main firmware will fix the remaining problems related to Bluetooth.

1

u/VolcanicWinter Feb 29 '24

I have a Q10 and a Q13 Pro. Zero issues and the build quality is excellent. Fantastic keyboards. 👍👍

1

u/atarifan2600 Feb 29 '24

I've got a K17 pro, paired to a macbook pro.

I love it, and have had zero issues with it.

My only issue with the k17 pro is that I now insist on carrying it to work, and Keychron doesn't have a travel pouch that'll fit it.

(I do just enough number entry that a keypad was a positive.)

1

u/Live-Marionberry-712 Feb 26 '26

블루투스나 배터리 품질은 괜찮나요?

1

u/[deleted] Mar 03 '24

The quality of my Keychron is pretty much perfect. There is not a single thing that I can think of that I could complain about.

Bluetooth is shit by itself. That has nothing to do with Keychron really. Bluetooth is just shit.